How Can I Find College Rankings by Degree?

College degree rankings enable prospective students to narrow the lists of colleges and universities they apply to. Two websites that allow prospective students to find school and college rankings by degree are U.S. News & World Report and the Princeton Review.

College Rankings Overview

In order to help overwhelmed students wade through the seemingly endless options when it comes to picking the right college, a number of publications and web sites generate lists that rank degree programs and help make the college application process slightly easier. Some of these lists are devoted to individual majors and subjects, meaning that a student looking to study engineering can quickly and easily view a list of the nation's top engineering schools. Read on to learn more about these rankings.

Important Facts About College Rankings

Academic Considerations

Average class size, student:teacher ratio, faculty

Admissions Considerations

Percentage of applicants admitted, tuition costs, financial aid

Extracurricular Considerations

Dining halls, sports teams, dormitories, campus clubs/activities

Other Ranking Categories

Best global universities, best online programs, best Arab region universities

U.S. News & World Report

Visitors to the U.S. News & World Report website are able to search for the highest ranked graduate schools, colleges, universities and degree programs in the world. The top graduate schools are divided according to discipline. Some of the disciplines listed include education, business, law, engineering and fine arts.

U.S. News & World Report offers detailed information about business and engineering programs, broken down by sub-disciplines. Some of the engineering disciplines listed include mechanical, chemical and civil. Business program subcategories include accounting, management, marketing and international business. Website visitors can also search rankings by U.S. region.

Some of the factors that impact the U.S. News & World Report rankings include student selectivity, retention, peer evaluation, alumni contributions and financial resources. All universities are ranked on a Tier 1-4 scale, with Tier 1 schools being the highest.

The Princeton Review

The Princeton Review website (www.princetonreview.com) allows visitors to search school rankings according to a number of different variables. Some of these variables include quality of life, academics, social scene, politics and town life. Academic and administration variables are further broken down into 17 different categories. The website also has a section for the best schools that have social science programs and business and economics programs.

In order to gain access to school rankings, each website visitor will be required to create a profile. The Princeton Review uses this profile information to recommend specific programs. Profile creation requires a name, address, high school information, such as GPA and high school name, and information regarding standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT.

Popular Schools

The listings below may include sponsored content but are popular choices among our users.
x